In the first game of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which begins in Perth, pacer Harshit Rana and all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy made their much Test debuts. This is Harshit's first India cap, however, Nitish made his debut for India in the T20I series against Bangladesh.
Rana won a position in the Indian side and will be included in the playing XI for the opening match of the series after impressing with his efforts for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2024 Indian Premier League. Rana has taken forty-three wickets in ten first-class matches. The right-arm pacer has also scored 469 runs, including two fifties and a century, in addition to bowling.
Along with Mohammed Siraj, fellow rookie Nitish Kumar Reddy, and captain Jasrpit Bumrah, the 22-year-old will form a four-pronged seam attack. With two five-wicket hauls and a 10-wicket match haul, the Delhi spinner has taken 43 wickets at an average of 24 in his ten First Class (FC) appearances. In 14 innings with the bat, he has also scored 469 runs at an average of 42.63, including two fifties and a hundred.
He made his first-class debut after playing for the Indian Premier League's Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2022. He was a member of the IPL 2024 winning squad. He also made an impression during this season's Duleep Trophy, taking eight wickets in two games in Anantapur and providing some useful lower-order runs.
IND vs AUS Playing XIs
India: KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah(c), Mohammed Siraj
Australia: Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
